Greg Hamra, founder of The Hamra Group, is a ‘climate solutionist’ whose mission is to enable society to mitigate the impacts of climate change. To fulfill his mission, he focuses on education and advocacy.

Greg’s passion is education, primarily focusing on educating academia, business leaders, and policy-makers. He teaches climate literacy, corporate sustainability, and LEED green building on behalf of the US Green Building Council and at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture. A frequent lecturer at universities, professional organizations and industry trade shows, Greg delves into a myriad of topics at the nexus of energy, environment and society.

Greg is very active in climate advocacy, on the local and national stage. As the leader of the Miami Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Greg is committed to bridging the partisan divide on climate while promoting a solution to the climate crisis that has the endorsement of leading economists, top scientists, and most respected thought-leaders in the energy and climate policy space.

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Greg Hamra will give a basic discussion of Climate 101 to help us understand effects Climate Change & Sea Level Rise is having on the world population, with a specific emphasis on those of us who live & grow orchids in South Florida. The increasing temperature index & changes in weather patterns will affect decisions that growers will need to make in the near future

Seating is limited so be sure to register as soon as possible. Call (305) 256-0483 to make your reservation!

The party begins at 7:00 P.M. on December 20th (our regular meeting night).

Please join us for what I’m sure will be a most informative and enjoyable program!

Remember. Guests are always welcome at our meetings!

Dan & Margie Orchids will be providing plants for our raffle!

Larry Cox: Multifloral Paphs

Larry Cox acquired his first orchid, a cattleya, over forty years ago. His second was a paphiopedilum, Paph. Maudiae ‘Magnificum.’ The cattleya is long gone, but he still has a piece of the paph. When he began with paphs, he commonly heard, “You can’t grow those in South Florida,” but the first one lived and bloomed, and the paphiopedilum collection continued to grow. In the mid 1980’s most of the other orchids were sold or given away, all for the love of paphs. In 1989 he moved from his South Miami residence to a more spacious property in the farming district of southern Miami-Dade County where he built his dream greenhouse of 3000 square feet. He has suffered setbacks, such as hurricane Andrew in 1992, but with perseverance and with the discovery of new paph species ,and the consequent new hybrids, Larry’s love of paphiopedilums has been renewed over and over again. In 1983 Larry won his first AOS award for Paph. Maudiae coloratum ‘Elektra’ AM/AOS, one of the first vinicolors. Since then his orchids have earned over fifty AOS awards, including four FCC’s.

Ten years ago, Larry retired from thirty-seven years as a teacher, the last fifteen teaching Advanced Placement high school English . He now spends his time reading, traveling, maintaining his property and, of course, growing paphs. Larry has experimented with other orchid genera and has found success with lycastes, phragmipediums, and pescatoreas. He has even rediscovered the wonder of cattleyas, particularly species.

Larry will be selling a selection of plants at the meeting.

Dan & Margie Orchids will be providing plants for our raffle. We will also be having our popular silent auction this month!

Also, be sure to bring your prized orchids for our team of judges to evaluate for ribbons and medals!

And, of course there will be plenty of snacks and refreshments!

Remember! Visitors are always welcome at our meetings!

Our guest speaker for March will be Dennis Giardina, regional biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

He will talk about the on going Experimental Restoration of Rare and Extirpated Orchids in the Everglades and Big Cypress Basin and his recent adventures in Cuba. Besides being involved with the Florida panthers his career has focused on endangered species recovery and exotic species control, beginning with the US Fish and Wildlife Service at St. Mark, Florida Panther and 10,000 Islands National Wildlife Refuges. He was the park manager of Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park before accepting his current position of Everglades Region Biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Since 2008 , he also been the Co. Chair of Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (ECISMA) and from 2012 to 2014 he was the Chair of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council.

Let’s give a big SFOS welcome to Dennis.

OFE International will be providing plants for our raffle.

Sheldon Takasaki, the owner of Carmela Orchids in Hawaii, will present our January program. His program is titled “Hawaii’s Favorite Orchids”. If you have never heard Sheldon speak you are in for a treat!

Sheldon is no stranger to SFOS. He was a vendor at the 11 WOC, held in Miami in 1984 and has been a vendor at most of our orchid Shows since 1985. It has been a couple of years since Sheldon has presented a program for SFOS, so we are thrilled to have him back to present the first program of the New Year.

As a young Hawaiian boy, Sheldon grew up picking “field orchids”, the flowers used to make Leis and to put in the drinks of tourists in Hawaii.

Carmela Orchids is located in Hakalau, Hawaii. The nursery was founded in 1960 and has grown over the years from a small collection of orchids grown on top of a bomb shelter to a multi greenhouse operation with an in-house lab. Carmela Orchids is well known for their high standards of quality.

Carmela Orchids will be providing plants for our raffle table as well as our special raffle plants but they will not be selling plants at our meeting.